" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

The Spartans take on BYU in Salt Lake City at 4:00 on Saturday. As noted in the previous post, the game will be broadcast on BYUTV and available only through satellite TV or streaming video. The game will be played at Energy Solutions Arena, home of the Utah Jazz.

BYU comes into the game at 6-1, ranked #20 in the AP poll and #22 in the coaches’ poll. Their single loss shouldn’t be held against them: it was to #1 UNC by a score of 73-63. The game was played in Las Vegas. The Cougars’ claim-to-fame thus far this season is beating Louisville on the road 78-76. Louisville was ranked #6 in the nation at the time.

Here’s what their tempo-free stats say about them:

• They’ve both shot the ball well and prevented their opponents from shooting the ball well. Effective FG%: 55.8%. Opponents’ effective FG%: 41.7%. They held high-powered UNC to an effective FG% of 42.4%.
• They don’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds. Their opponents’ offensive rebounding percentage is just 26.4%–ranking 17th in the nation. If they can neutralize MSU’s offensive rebounding, it will put a lot of pressure on the Spartans not to turn the ball over and to shoot the ball at a high percentage.
• They don’t get their shot blocked much. They rank first in the nation in offensive blocked-shot percentage, having only 3.0% of their FG attempts blocked. So Ibok and Herzog may not be the ticket for MSU.
• They play at a healthy tempo, averaging 72.8 possessions per 40 minutes. They may try to wear the Spartans out in the mountain air by pushing the ball up the floor.

The big man on campus in Provo is Trent Plaisted. The 6′11″ 245-pound junior is averaging 17.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He’s been huge in their two high-profile games, putting up 21 points and 12 rebounds vs. Louisville and 24-17 vs. UNC. He’s shooting 59.0% from the field (all two-points attempts) and has gone to the line 49 times in seven games.

Outside of Mr. Plaisted, BYU isn’t all that big. Their other four starters are all 6′6″ or shorter. The three-point shooter to keep an eye on is sophomore Johnathan Tavernari, who’s made 24 of 57 attempts this season (42.1%). Point guard Ben Murdock sports an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.6.

These two teams played last year at the Palace. The MSU games notes provide the following recap:

Michigan State defeated BYU, 76-61, on Dec. 9, 2006 at the Spartan Clash in Auburn Hills, Mich. Drew Neitzel led Michigan State with 22 points, while Marquise Gray (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Goran Suton (10 pts., 11 reb.)
each posted double-doubles. The Spartans shot 50.9 percent from the floor, while olding the Cougars to 41.8 percent. Trent Plaisted led all scorers with 23 points, but MSU held BYU’s leading scorer Keena Young to just four points. MSU led by six points at the half, and pushed the lead out to double figures five minutes into the period, and the Cougars never got closer than nine points after that.

This should be another good test for MSU, playing a quality team in a hostile environment. On that note, SI.com’s Luke Winn somewhat unfairly impugns MSU’s schedule in his latest power rankings:

The Spartans deserve a bit of credit for their willingness to play this week at Bradley (where MSU won, 66-61.) Unfortunately, that’s their only true road game of the non-conference season. Here’s how many times each of my top 10 teams are venturing into opposing venues in 2007-08:

* (4) UNC: at Ohio State, Kentucky, Penn and Rutgers
* (4) Washington State: at Baylor, Gonzaga, Boise State and Idaho State
* (4) Butler: at Ball State, Evansville, Florida Gulf Coast and Southern Illinois
* (3) Kansas: at USC, Georgia Tech and Boston College
* (3) Georgetown: at Old Dominion, Memphis, Ball State
* (2) Texas: at UCLA, Rice
* (1) Memphis: at Cincinnati
* (1) Michigan State: at Bradley
* (1) UCLA: at Michigan
* (0) Duke: none

While Mr. Winn is technically right, I’d argue that playing Missouri in Kansas City and BYU in Utah are effectively “true road games.” Taking those games into account, MSU is right in the middle of the pack of contenders in terms of their willingness to play in hostile environments during the nonconference season.

Other potential Big Ten viewing opportunities on Saturday (some of which don’t even require the ability to receive TV signals beamed from outer space!):

• Arizona at Illinois, noon, ESPN.
• Iowa at Iowa St., 2:00, ESPNU.
• Michigan at Duke, 2:00, CBS.
• Kentucky at Indiana, 4:00, CBS.
• Purdue at Missouri, 4:00 ESPN2.
• Marquette at Wisconsin, 6:00 ESPN2.
• Seton Hall at Penn State, 8:00, BTN.

A pretty decent day of hoops, now that guys who throw the pigskin around are biding their time until bowl season.